Dry drowning story

One more thing to be paranoid about. I had to post about this, I'd never heard of such a thing.

Last week, I read of a ten-year-old boy who drowned more than an hour after he went swimming. Read this article in detail here on MSNBC.

To summarize: The child, Johnny Jackson, went swimming in a pool near his home, then left after he had an accident in the pool and soiled himself. He walked home with his mother, Cassandra Jackson, and his sister. Once home, his mother bathed him before he lay down for a nap, from which he never awakened.

The article quotes Dr. Daniel Rauch, a pediatrician from New York University Langone Medical Center. Rauch states that while dry drowning is not completely understood, medical research says that in some people, a small amount of inhaled water may have a delayed-reaction effect.

There are three imortant dry drowning indicators to watch for:
1. Difficulty breathing
2. Extreme tiredness,
3. Changes in behavior.

All of the above are the result of reduced oxygen flow to the brain. Johnny had two of the signs — he was tired when he got home, and he had the accident in the pool.

The article notes that dry drowning can happen even 24 hours after a small amount of water gets into the lungs and in a child, this can happen during a bath.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 10 to 15 percent of the 3,600 drowning deaths in 2005 (the most recent year for which there are statistics) was classified as 'dry drowning'.

My heart goes out to Johnny's mom.